After playing a stripped back set for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series, James Alex was inspired to release an album full of alternative versions of Beach Slang hits. Ditching the fuzz and riffs in favour of cello and piano, he said where his day job finds him fawning over The Replacements, Quiet Slang is more…
Following 4 years spent focusing on releasing bands via his Super Fan 99 Records label, Uncle Luc (aka Luke Barham) makes a most-welcome return with the 8-song album ‘Sticking to the Rules’. ‘Plateaux’ opens the record with some ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ guitar strums and Luke singing the words ‘Don’t look back’ over and…
A power-pop trio from Oslo, Spielbergs have already established themselves as a band to watch with huge success in their homeland and they’ve even broken into the Spotify viral 50 chart. Signed to new label By the Time it Gets Dark, their ‘Distant Star’ EP will be available on CD, download and limited-edition blue and…
Maxim S is a Helsinki-based musician whose latest project goes by the name of Plant Food. The brilliantly titled ‘Koalas Hug Trees to Keep Cool’ (out 18 April) is a record available from our friends at Fox Food Records. Recorded in Turku, Helsinki, Moscow and St Petersburg during the years of 2016-2018, it’s the sound…
Kermes are a queer indie-punk quartet from Leicester who are signed to Robot Needs Home. They’re set to release their debut album ‘We Choose Pretty Names’ on 13 April and it’s a record that – like their soon-to-be tour mates itoldyouiwouldeatyou – tackles important and timely subjects ranging from mental health and misoginy to gender…
‘So Far, So Good, So Cool’ is Norwegian rockers Death by Unga Bunga’s fifth album in 10 years, but they’re not showing any signs of slowing down. The past couple of years have seen them release the critically acclaimed ‘Pineapple Pizza’ album play countless shows in various countries and even support Stiff Little Fingers on…
Hop Along have made a most welcome return with third album, the brilliantly titled ‘Bark Your Head Off, Dog’. Self-produced and recorded in their native Philadelphia, it finds the four-piece diversifying more than ever before with Frances Quinlan’s breathtaking vocals melding with strings, harmonies and even – in one glorious moment – a vocoder. The…
Manchester band The Maple State release their first new material in almost a decade with new album ‘The Things I Heard at the Party’ (via Far Out Records). In the band’s hiatus, the members have found themselves spread across the globe and worked in industries ranging from universities to wildlife conservation and environmental projects. But…
Audio Antihero Records’ Cloud (or Tyler Taormina to his friends and family) makes a welcome return with ‘Plays with Fire’ – a 32-minute album drenched in hope and nostalgia. A loud burst of feedback signals the start of the opener ‘Happer’s Laugh’; a song full of acoustic strums and white noise effects that evolves into…
As a touring member of Bastille, Charlie Barnes has played to arena-sized audiences all over the world in the three years since his debut record ‘More Stately Mansions’. The follow-up ‘Oceanography’, again released via the ever-reliable Superball Music, was written in various hotel rooms during this period. The album opens with a short intro that…
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